Chapter Three:Blood for the False Luna

​Aurelia’s POV

​Two heavy pack warriors grabbed my arms without a single word, lifting me off the wooden floorboards of the stage, they dragged my limp body down the stairs while the crowd continued to shout and cheer for Selene. My feet dragged through the dirt as they pulled me toward the pack clinic, and the plain walls of the medical room offered no comfort when they threw me onto a metal table, pinning my shoulders down so I could not move.

​"Hold her down securely, because we cannot afford any mistakes," Selene ordered, walking into the room right behind us with Elder Thomas, and she placed both of her hands on her stomach, looking over at Kael who was lingering by the open doorway with a pale, conflicted face.

"The stress from this entire evening has made my pregnancy incredibly unstable, Kael, and I can feel the baby’s energy weakening by the minute, so we must do this procedure right now before it is too late."

​"Is this absolutely necessary, Healer Marcus, or are we just rushing into things?" Kael asked, his voice rough and strained as he finally stepped into the room, though he still refused to look me in the eyes or meet my gaze.

"Can we not just use regular herbs or medicines to stabilize her instead of resorting to this?"

​"The old books say a rejected Luna's blood carries a unique binding force that can anchor a weak alpha pup, Alpha Kael," Healer Marcus explained, preparing a large silver bowl and a long needle on a small table nearby, "and given the distress Selene is describing to us, this is the safest option for the survival of your heir."

​"Kael, please do not let them do this to me," I begged, trying to pull my arms free from the warriors' tight grip, but the rejection had drained all my strength, and I could barely twist my wrists against their hold. "You already took my title, and you broke our bond in front of everyone, so just let me leave the territory in peace instead of draining me."

​"It is for the child, Aurelia, and I have to protect the next Alpha," Kael said, turning his face away toward the wall, and his jaw clenched tightly as he gave a slight nod to the healer. "Just take what is needed to ensure the pup is safe, Marcus, and do it quickly so she can be removed from our lands before morning."

​"Thank you, Alpha, you are doing the right thing for our family," Selene whispered with a smug smile, and she watched eagerly as Healer Marcus approached the table, rolling up my sleeve and pressing the cold needle deep into the vein of my forearm.

​A sharp pain shot up my arm, and I bit my lip to keep from screaming while my dark blood began to flow through a clear plastic tube, draining steadily into the large silver bowl on the table. As the container filled up, I looked down at the dark red liquid, and I noticed a strange, faint silver glow shimmering right beneath the surface of my blood, pulsing like tiny dots of light caught in the fluid. I blinked rapidly, thinking the exhaustion was making me see things, but the silver light remained there, glowing uniquely within the red pool while neither Marcus, Selene, nor Kael seemed to notice anything unusual at all.

​"Look at the color, Marcus, is it supposed to look like that?" I asked, trying to draw attention to it, but the healer didn't even lift his head to check.

​"Your blood is just standard wolf blood, Aurelia, so stop making up excuses to delay the process," Selene snapped, stepping closer to the bowl and looking at the liquid with greed. "There is nothing special about you anymore, so just lie still and let the healer finish his work."

​"That should be more than enough to stabilize the pregnancy," Healer Marcus finally stated, pulling the needle out of my skin and placing a small piece of cotton over the wound, but he didn't even bother to bandage it properly or give me water to recover.

​"Excellent, now get her out of my sight and off our property immediately," Selene said, waving her hand dismissively toward the guards, and she picked up the bowl of blood with an eager expression on her face.

​The two warriors dragged me off the metal table, not giving me a single moment to catch my breath or steady my balance, and they marched me out of the clinic, through the back paths of the village, and straight toward the heavy iron gates that marked the outer borders of the Blackthorne Pack. The rejection pain was still burning in my chest, making every step feel like I was walking on broken glass, and the loss of blood made my head spin violently as we reached the boundary line.

​"You are officially banished, Aurelia," the guard on the left said, shoving me hard across the dirt path that led into the dark, unmapped forest beyond our territory. "If you ever cross back onto Blackthorne land, we have orders from the Alpha to kill you on sight, so do not look back."

​I stumbled forward, falling onto the rough dirt and dry leaves, and behind me, the heavy iron gates slammed shut with a loud, metallic clang that signaled the end of my life here. I lay there for a long time, pressing my hand against my bleeding arm while the darkness of the woods surrounded me, and I tried to push myself up onto my knees, but my muscles were completely exhausted and wouldn't cooperate.

​A sudden rustling sound came from the thick bushes just a few yards ahead of me, followed by the heavy thud of paws hitting the ground, and several pairs of glowing yellow eyes emerged from the shadows of the trees. Three large, scarred rogue wolves stepped out onto the path, baring their sharp teeth and growling hungrily as they caught the scent of my fresh blood, and they began to encircle me while I lay completely defenseless on the ground.